Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Oppressing to be on the Safe Side: The Situation of East Jerusalem Palestinians

Written by Lubna Masarwa, this article explains some but not all of the pressures placed on Palestinians in East Jerusalem. In the article, she mentioned the Israeli practice of canceling the "residency" of people from East Jerusalem. When Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, they annexed it as part of "Israel's eternal and undivided capital," a move unrecognized by almost all countries in the world because it violates international law. While they incorporated the land into Israel, they did not make the people living on the land citizens. People living in East Jerusalem at the time were given "permanent resident" status. Well, maybe not so "permanent." All Palestinians in the Occupied territories are supposed to carry identity cards, and the ones given to East Jerusalemites are blue, and give the holders slightly more rights and freedoms. For the last 10 years, Israel has been taking more and more of these East Jerusalem IDs away. If someone moves to the West Bank or another country, they run the risk of losing their ID. If someone with East Jerusalem residency marries someone from the West Bank, they West Bank spouse can no longer get a coveted blue ID so they can live in Jerusalem. Israel is trying in every way to decrease the "demographic threat" of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. For instance, it is very expensive and difficult, if not totally impossible for Palestinians in East Jerusalem to get permits to build houses on their land, or even to expand existing homes. This drives housing prices sky high. So many people moved just outside of Jerusalem to afford decent housing at a decent price. Then the Israelis take away their residency permits for Jerusalem! (Remember this when you hear that Israel has promised to stop building in illegal settlements, and then says there has to be an exception for "natural growth!" "Natural growth" in illegal settlements built on stolen land is ok, "natural growth" in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem on land owned by Palestinians is to be suppressed at all costs.)